In conversation with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

In conversation with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder, The Art of Living

Welcome to Oman. What are your first impressions of the country in the short time you have been here? 
People have been inviting me to visit Oman for the last 27 years. I'm glad I could make it this time. It's a beautiful place. The country is very nicely maintained. It's simply beautiful here.

Please tell us about some of the benefits of SKY breathing, a technique you have developed. 
We have been teaching SKY breathing for the last 45 years and there is number of evidence-based research around the world with 700 papers published on the benefits of SKY breathing.

One of the most important benefits is that it boosts your immune system five times. That's in the study. SKY breathing has helped people come out of depression, rage, and anger. It helps people who face burnout. The benefits are many.

Life has become busier. What can we do to bring some calmness into our busy schedules?
Meditate. The busier you are, the more energy you need. Meditation helps in boosting your energy. Meditation not only gives you rest, but it also gives you a lot of energy. In a short period of time, you can take such deep rest that rejuvenates your body, mind, and spirit. That’s what people are looking for. That’s the reason, in 2024, 193 countries came together to declare December 6 as World Meditation Day. This has never happened before. The importance of meditation and the role it plays is evident. 

How can people stay grounded in a world of increasing digital noise, especially when screens take away so much of our time?
When you watch something on a screen for too long, the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for creativity, starts shrinking. So, as a result, your creativity goes down. You don't blink when you are looking at a screen. You need to reverse this. Meditation does the job. Twenty minutes of meditation helps to rejuvenate the nerves. It sends the right different signals to neurons. This becomes a very important rejuvenating factor for both our eyes, our optic nerve, and our brain.

There are physical changes that people feel right away; they experience calmness in the mind and feel more energy. 

What are your thoughts on AI? 
I feel AI challenges you to be more creative. It cannot put up something which is not already there. You must become the original contributor in life, in the world, and that's what AI challenges you to. AI makes you think originally, become more creative and not use what is already there. But if AI is misused, it can create a lot of challenges in society. AI makes it hard for you to know what is real and what is fake. In the wrong hands, AI can cause damage. But if it is judiciously used, it's a blessing for mankind.

How can one be more mindful?
Mindfulness is just a result, or byproduct of meditation. You don't have to be mindful all the time because that itself is a tension again. It should come to you naturally.  When you have had a good night’s rest, you are naturally mindful in the morning. But by the evening when you are tired, with all the work and the stimuli around you, you feel depleted. I would recommend everyone to meditate for a few minutes, twice a day, to feel fresh the whole day. To those in the corporate sector, I would suggest M&M - meditation and meals. The first step is meditation. The next is to have food together when you are at work. When you share a meal with your colleagues and enjoy your time together in between work, you will find that your energy level goes up.